Wrill
by NLReal
Summary: An untested squad is sent to a hostile planet to find and terminate an agent gone rogue. No one escapes the Shadow Broker.
1. Chapter 1: M-8

**A/N: Hey guys and gals. Just to note: This is my first fanfiction. Holy ****. Hopefully you guys enjoy this first, early, could be done better in my opinion first chapter. Its not based on particularly anything from the games, just the technology, races, etc. A side-story, if you will, with all original OCs. Its not a N7 Multiplayer (let's gather everyone into one ship!) fic, its got no Shepard or crew, just... something different. Hopefully you guys will R/R, reviews are very important to me and help me not only become a better writer but also motivate me to creating more chapters. Anyway, enjoy the (short) chapter, and welcome to Wrill!**

* * *

There was no getting around it. After much thought, use, and attempts of rationalization to delude himself, he had to finally admit it. The M-8 Avenger was a piece of shit. It may be lightweight gun, reliable, and fire at a reasonable speed, but the firepower was too damn low. If he were to go back in time, he would've chucked the damn thing into the sun and just settled with just a Predator pistol. Screw survival odds. Let's call it a challenge. What do people see in this gun?

It didn't matter now, as it was the only gun he had in his disposal that would seem to do anything against the horde of endless and violent vorcha that had appeared from nowhere. Spirits, it almost made him miss the Phaeston.

"Shit, Borin, the left!"

Borin Dalert sprung around and saw an incoming vorcha heading right towards him, jumping over some knocked over storage crates from the crash. That thing didn't get very far, as his body was now riddled with bullets from Borin's weak but somewhat effective gun. It may be shit, but at least it still worked. The turian dispensed a heat sink as he looked back and saw even more vorcha suppressing his squad's positions. They were trapped, and the enemy knew it. Those idiots were sending even more of their own to their deaths in hope of eliminating them. Borin ducked behind his position, one only made partially of a wheel and axle of the vehicle that had once been drivable, and saw a quarian furiously trying to fix something.

"Vora'Gras! Get that damn turret up!"

"I've told you, it will be up! Stop asking me!" The quarian still had the nerve to talk back to him, even in this dire situation.

Borin cursed to himself. If that turret wasn't up in the next minute, they would all be dead. Right now, only vorcha were involved in this fight. What if the krogan showed up? There was no way in knowing if and when they would appear. Those bastards took way too many bullets to kill, and this gun wouldn't do shit against them. Sneaking a peek, the turian saw a vorcha with a haphazardly strapped on gas tank heading right towards his position. A suicide bomber. It looked like its intention was to flush his squad out of their positions.

That tank only made an easy target as Borin raised his arm and used his omni-tool to initiate an overload, immediately exploding the tank and taking out the vorcha and his two comrades foolish enough to stay close to him, burning and screaming as they went down. Looking down to his left he saw a floating vorcha flailing as a biotic throw slammed against him, sending him instantly to the ground. The resulting explosion of biotics was enough to know that he wasn't getting up anytime soon.

The asari appeared right next to him. It was evident that she was beginning to tire, but she seemed to be the only one standing between survival and death. Her biotics had saved their lives before, but now... this time it might not be enough.

"We can't stay here for much longer!"

"Yes yes, I know, I'm hurrying up!" The quarian butted in. Vora'Gras and his stupid habit of always...

Before the three of them could react, a sudden explosion erupted, throwing them immediately to the ground. The large ground vehicle they inhabited, on fire the entire time, finally exploded, sending all sorts of debris at threatening speeds all over the place. The turian furiously crawled next to his cover as the others began to recover from the blast. They could still hear the approaching vorcha panting, grimacing, screaming for pain, and calling for the squad's death. Borin could only grip the gun tighter. They were almost on top of them.

They shouldn't have pissed these mercs off.

* * *

_18 hours earlier..._

The damn shuttle just wouldn't stop shaking, but neither could his own hands.

Borin checked over his newly cleaned and maintained assault rifle again. The rifle was already fully loaded, ready to fire; a reliable M-8 Avenger model. He could have selected a Phaeston instead, but he didn't trust that weapon, as it always seemed to fail him during his long and going nowhere training and reconnaissance in the turian cabals. No matter how many times he got a new one, it failed in new spectacular ways. His thoughts about the cabals were not really rosy. Endless repetitive rifle checks, biotic training courses, endless scouting missions, but never a single meaningful deployment or engagement anywhere in Council space. Stuck in a unit doing the same thing over and over again as politicians made sure to make life in the cabals hell for those unfortunate enough to possess biotic ability. Borin didn't want to think about it. It was a fortunate thing that-

Another shake. This damn shuttle...

"Entering Wrill's orbit. Almost there," the human pilot mused in the cramped Kodiak shuttle. "I'm sure I don't need to repeat the mission."

Of course the human didn't need to. It was described simply as: "Terminate the rogue agent." If only things were that simple...

Borin looked around the shuttle for perhaps the twentieth time during the trip. There was the asari again, in her red and black tinted environmental suit, staring at her own helmet. Sitting down on the only seat available, she didn't speak many words when they boarded the shuttle at the spaceport, and didn't seem like the type who would just strike up a random conversation. She always seemed to be deep in thought about something. Maybe the pale blue asari was taking this job way too seriously...

Unlike the male quarian at the other side of the shuttle. Talkative. Maybe a little too much. He was too damn curious about everyone here. What's your name, who's your favorite person, why do turians look like birds, that sort of thing. He was now quiet, getting the hint that no one wanted to talk to him at the moment. The dark blue and black armor made him look at least capable, but the beat up Scimitar shotgun didn't. Borin didn't like Scimitars. What the hell was a Scimitar anyway...

Another bump, but this time the shuttle began to rattle from the high speeds. It was finally entering the atmosphere of the planet of Wrill, part of the Eagle Cluster in the edges of the Terminus Systems. The planet was in a constant state of war; various gangs vied for the little resources the planet inhabited. In short, it was no friendly place; CDA says that civilian travel is restricted at your own risk. It's a good thing that they weren't civilians, then. The shuttle they were in was nothing ordinary either.

The worst part of Wrill was that there was no oxygen. Only a thin methane-ethane based atmosphere. Once down there, they had to find their own breathable air. Without it, they would all die, forever stuck on the planet. What a tryout. Pass or die.

"Thirty seconds until landing!"

Borin stared at his black turian helmet. Its yellow stripes seemed to be chipping away, but it had been a long time since he had to go into less than stellar atmospheric conditions. Too damn long in fact. This mission was a chance to finally put his skills to good use, instead of being a waste. Now was the time to prove something. He would have pondered all day but the rampant shaking was constantly reminding him of the landing. Putting on his helmet and making sure his suit was now sealed tight, the confident turian hung on and faced the shuttle's doors as his new squad members lined up behind him.

The comm system inside his helmet began to transmit. It was the pilot.

"Remember your mission. Complete it, you get off this rock, we all go home happy. Fail... and you'll be left here to rot. I will not pick you up until the mission is complete and the Shadow Broker has evidence. Do I make myself clear?"

Crystal.

At that precise moment, the shuttle stopped moving, the door opened, and the three soldiers stepped out of the shuttle, in combat positions. The shuttle closed its door and took off into the sky. It wouldn't be back for at least two days. The air in their suits will only last for eight hours.

Time to start the hunt.


	2. Chapter 2: Rocks

Rocks. Endless rocks.

Borin crouched down in an effort to rest his legs. It had been an hour since being dropped off from the shuttle, walking in a direction that was marked on their omni-tools. The distance to target was still too damn far. It would take a three hour walk to just get there, and there seemed to be no other option. Borin stared into the brown horizon, contemplating what would be found there. Reinforcements? Unlikely, they were probably the only aliens in the area populated by krogan and vorcha. A trap? Now he was being pessimistic.

With his rest over with, Borin continued the long ass walk to the target. It would be so nice to walk in peace, except for the constant hum of an omni-tool scanning something, a drop of a rock, momentary silence, then another hum... it began to drive him crazy. He knew what was going on. That dumb quarian was scanning rocks for the last hour, mumbling to himself, and always fascinated by the meager findings his tool provided. After about the eightieth time, Borin almost had enough.

"Vora'Gras, can you please stop?"

No response. Of course.

Borin sighed. Insubordination was not something he was familiar with. In the turian military, orders were meant to be followed, without question. This was especially true in the cabals. Everyone had to stick together, because they could trust no one else. The rest of the military distrusted them. The quarian was different, as he was too much of an idiot to not understand a request.

"This planet has large quantities of tin," Vora'Gras mused, hand still holding an irregularly shaped rock. "Also, traces of copper..."

"No. Fucking. Shit." Borin replied annoyingly. "The planet is used for meager copper and tin mining operations. The gangs in this planet fight over the resources, no matter how valuable the minerals are actually."

After staring at the rock for a good five seconds, Vora'Gras chucked it to the vast wasteland.

"Why fight over such a worthless planet?" he pondered out loud.

Borin paused. This planet was a constant hell hole. Gangs fighting over the most frivolous of operations, when there were more lucrative options such as the slave trade. These gangs seemed like the lowest of the scum, the ones who would fight for anything. Yet...

"Shit, I don't know." he mused. "All that matters is the mission."

Vora'Gras grunted as he stood there for a moment before resuming his walk to the objective.

"Maybe they don't know what else to do. Maybe they are stuck. It's probably all they know." Borin speculated. "Its either petty operations or the Blood Pack, and we all know how that group operates."

"Yeah, obvious with the name." Vora'Gras quipped.

"Can you two shut up?" Borin and Vora'Gras turned to the unfamiliar voice that belonged to the only other person in the group. Both of them almost forgot that the asari was even there.

"We have a mission to deal with. Please be serious." Her voice was professional, but carried a bit of annoyance.

"Ah, yes, 'the mission.' The oh so important mission... that left us in the middle of fucking nowhere!" Vora'Gras complained loudly. "Walking and walking and walking and-"

"I get it." Borin cut in. "You're bored."

"Hell yes I am."

"Then start counting the rocks or something. We'll get there eventually."

Vora'Gras began grumbling some weird words Borin never heard before, presumably Quarian. What the hell was a bosh'tet, anyway...

* * *

Borin looked over the entire mine. That was one big hole. The site was littered with garbage and debris, no doubt there were scavengers that decided to strip the entire place of parts and other useful materials. Twisted metal that used to be machinery covered the area, presumably to scan and dig for minerals as the robo-miners that used to inhabit the place worked for a meager living. The mine stuck out like a hole in the ground... only that it was almost a half mile across, and perfectly circular, around ten stories deep. In the distance Borin spotted some settlements built into the mine, but it was probably abandoned. A lone ladder and scaffolding was the only thing that was still standing, and it was on the other side. Spotting a still functioning loading elevator, the team started to descend into the mine.

The place had an eerie sense of calmness to it. What was once loud and full of hard working people was now dead. Cold. Alone. For who knows how long, he wondered.

After the descent, Nora stuck out her omni tool, and started to walk away from the shade and towards the middle of the mine. After a bit of fiddling with the electronic tool, Nora shut it down and sighed with confusion.

"This is it. We're here, but..."

"Nothing is here, of course." Vora'Gras butted in.

"The signal ends here. Nothing else is around." Nora continued, ignoring the quarian.

"Alright, split up and look for clues. Anything to point us towards the nearest settlement. We need to find someone or something to talk to." Borin commanded.

"Like I said, there's nothing..." Vora'Gras mused.

Stupid quarian...

Borin sighed. This felt like a huge waste of time. It had been hours since the mission had started. The objective had nothing of note. So what was the point? Why were they here?

Vora'Gras got out his omni-tool and began scanning the area, sweeping his omni-tool in hopes that he would find something interesting. Borin crouched down again, staring at the top of the mine at the other side. The scaffolding, after all these years, was still standing. Were there any recent visitors to the mine? If so, where?

"Hmm." The quarian began to cautiously approach a piece of wreckage, his omni-tool feeding him large amounts of data. I looked like he was sending data to a comm buoy, and was just getting results back from the extranet.

"Find anything Vora'Gras?" Borin asked curiously.

"This wreckage is old, but its got a logo on it. Kramali Industries. Old asari mining company. Hired many aliens to do the mining, mainly krogan..." Vora'Gras then began to mutter to himself, getting more bored the more he read.

"Anything else?" Borin asked impatiently.

"The company has been out of business since 800 years ago. Other than that, nope." Vora'Gras mused.

"Eight hundred years?"

"Yeah, merged with another company. I'm going to guess the current population is mostly made up of off-planet inhabitants, but I bet there's a fraction that was born and raised here. Wouldn't be surprising, really."

"Any of the immigrants from well known merc groups?"

"Yeah, some that try to establish a foothold, but so far all have failed. Hard to bring together a planet full of savages if you ask me. Especially since most recent immigrants are vorcha."

"Any immigrants specifically from Flett?" Borin asked sternly.

"I don't know. Credits are on yes."

The turian sighed. Hopefully they wouldn't come across-

At that precise moment, a large bang echoed from outside the mind, alerting the rest of the squad who looked above the scaffolding. The sound was far off, but it got their attention.

"Someone has to get on top of that scaffolding and take a look." Nora suggested.

Vora'Gras and Nora both set their eyes on Borin.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Get to the top of the scaffolding using that ladder," Nora pointed towards the near broken down structure, "and climb to the top. See what is over there."

"Can't I just climb the way we came in?" Borin asked desperately.

"What's wrong, afraid of heights?" Vora'Gras quipped.

"That is none of your concern." Borin sputtered.

"Birds aren't scared of heights."

"I'm not a bird."

"Bird, turian, what's the difference?"

"Turians are not birds."

"Oh? So you're raptors then?"

"What the hell is a raptor?!"

"Can you please..." Nora flared her biotics and stood between the two bickering idiots, "...shut up?"

At that moment another boom echoed in the sky. It made a fair point.

Both of the guys began to mumble under their breaths. After much thought, Borin confirmed what he needed to do.

"I'm going."

"Don't fall!" Vora'Gras replied mockingly.

A witty comeback would have been nice, but Borin wasn't in the mood to curse at an idiot. He didn't deserve the attention. As he looked up at the weak scaffold a familiar feeling weaseled into his gut. Fear of heights. Something he had since he was in boot camp in the young age of 16. That's an event he didn't want to relive again.

The turian slowly approached the ladder and Slowly began to climb it, his talons making the ladder groan from age. Each climb felt more and more unsteady, his weight seemingly leaning dangerously towards falling to the ground below. Borin took a look down, which he instantly regretted. All he could see was the ground, and that quarian giving a thumbs up sign.

"What am I doing here?"

It was a question Borin kept repeatedly asking himself from the day he entered the Cabals all those years ago, after he was determined to be one of the few turians to have biotic potential. His parents, both civilian contractors hired to be security guards at faraway outposts and research stations, both understood that his biotics may have come from one of their many postings that included exposed eezo mines around the galaxy. He didn't blame them for the fact that he was immediately sent to the secluded, and at times discriminated part of the military. That was just who he was. The problem was why was he here now. He knew that answer all too well. It was the need to do something, anything, to justify his training. To justify his decision.

Borin shook off the thoughts. It didn't matter ultimately, as he climbed even more, getting closer to the top of the mine. This is one very long ladder...

After much climbing, he ultimately made it to the top.

"You made it!" Borin heard from a distance, presumably Vora'Gras. "Want a medal?"

Ignoring the unfunny, unlikable idiot, Borin surveyed the area. Seemingly nothing in the distance, he brought out his Predator pistol, and used its attached scope, whatever its actual effectiveness, to get a better view. Out in the open he saw a billowing dust cloud. In front of it, a beaten down, but functioning vehicle, heading towards their position, fast.

"Company."

* * *

**A/N: Well that took forever. Writer's block is a pain.**

**Anyway, this isn't the best written chapter, nor is it the worst, but it's something I am proud of because after over two months I finally finished this chapter. Let's hope that Chapter 3 will be easier to write! Make sure to leave a review if you have any feedback, as I want to improve my own writing. Again, thanks for reading and look forward to more chapters!**


	3. Chapter 3: Vorcha

"How am I supposed to get down from this? Oh spirits..." Borin muttered under his breath. The wind certainly doesn't help, as the scaffolding began to creak underneath him. He cursed the spirits again. Think fast or you'll soon become one.

Borin immediately swung his weight down the ladder and began to slide down, his talons trying to grip the ladder with dear life. At that moment, the scaffolding began to wane and creak. This wasn't good. This really wasn't good. With its last gasp, the structure began to collapse from the top, the debris heading down right towards him.

"Oh shit."

Upon that realization Borin lost grip of the ladder and began to fall. He didn't fall far, as he hit the ground hard, but not enough to cause any serious injury. The structure collapsed faster than he slid down, instantly becoming a heap of junk. Groaning from some slight discomfort, the turian slowly got up and dusted off his armor. At least there wasn't any damage to his suit...

"Graceful."

That was not the reaction he expected from Nora, who wasn't looking at him but towards the once standing scaffolding. "What did you see up there?" she said matter of factly. Borin could catch a little hint of annoyance from her voice, but ignored it.

"We've got a vehicle heading straight towards our location. Right where we entered this mine."

"So how did they find us?" Vora'Gras quipped in, retrieving his beaten up shotgun.

"No clue. They must be surveying the area, and must have spotted us somehow." Borin stated plainly.

"Great explanation." Vora'Gras mused. Borin ran out of adjectives to describe this nutjob.

"Speculate if you want, but we've got to get ready." The turian got his Avenger ready, checking it  
for any faults. It was not the best gun in the world, but reliable and mass produced. Let's hope it'll get the job done here...

At that moment the vehicle Borin spotted earlier stopped right on the other side of the mine, one of its wheels hanging out dangerously. The passengers of the vehicle, around a dozen, all armed, descended into the mine using the very same ropes his squad used to explore the hole. After they began to approach the squad, it was already apparent what species they were.

Vorcha.

"This oughta be interesting..." Vora'Gras muttered under his breath.

Before Borin could respond, the one of the vorcha, apparently the leader, began to hiss at them. No doubt it was going to ask some questions about who they were and what they were doing here, but he never got the chance, as Nora, firing up her biotics, caught the unsuspecting vorcha in a singularity field. Raising her gun before Borin could stage a protest, she fired off a few rounds from her Locust submachine gun and instantly killed the helpless floating vorcha. The others, seeing one of their comrades killed without warning, immediately began to fire their weapons.

Hell of a time to start a fight, but now wasn't the time to complain. Borin activated his omni-tool and fired up his tech armor, his additional source of protection. Vora'Gras immediately headed towards his right, where some debris could cover his approach. Borin watched as Nora fired off another singularity, this time pulling up two poor fools. Helpless, they floated around in merciful positons as Borin fired up his biotics for the first time and felt a burning sensation in his brain. Exerting biotics was always a tiring endeavor, as the turian fired a Throw right towards one of the vorcha, which sent it hurling to the other side of the mine. Borin watched as the other vorcha met a similar fate, this time a Throw from Nora. Taking a quick glance, she sported an annoyed gaze, even through her helmet. Borin simply ignored her, whatever arrogance she had didn't matter at the moment, all that mattered was killing them and continuing the mission, not a kill count.

The turian immediately took cover as a vorcha armed with a shotgun began to charge at his location. However, before Borin could react and take the vorcha out, he saw a cryo blast application whizz past him and hit the vorcha full force, freezing his target as the vorcha became a statue of ice. Before Borin could do anything more, another technical application his that poor bastard: Overload. The resulting explosion of tech made the vorcha explode in ice chunks, instantly killing the poor bastard and leaving somewhat of a huge mess. Borin wasn't considerably pleased, considering the chunks pretty much splattered over him, but didn't complain again. Again, no time to do so.

After darting to the next available piece of cover, Borin analyzed the situation. About a dozen vorcha entered the battlefield before Nora fired the first shot, and there were about half of them left. They were easily being wiped out by outsiders who possessed superior firepower and skills. Borin watched as Nora tore a vorcha in half using pure biotic power. Something wasn't right, how was that even possible? He never saw anything that insane done with biotics. Every time he used a biotic power, the burning sensation in his brain would mentally stress him to the point of exhaustion. The turian watched astounded as the asari kept pulling off biotic feat after biotic feat, way surpassing Borin's own limits.

Borin saw his moment of opportunity when they began to focus solely on Nora, who was tearing them apart. Appearing out of cover and charging their position, Borin aimed his Avenger down its sights and pulled off a headshot using a few bullets. Seeing the other two begin to turn towards him, he fired off more rounds at their general direction to force them to take cover as he approached. The turian jumped over a piece of cover a vorcha was inhabiting and gave it bullets that killed it right on the spot. He instantly reacted to an another vorcha about to ambush him, turning around and smacking it with his gun. As the vorcha slid on its back Borin approached his easy target and placed his foot on its neck. Switching his gun to his Predator pistol, the vorcha gave one final primal scream as Borin pulled the trigger without hesitation. Saliva and blood splashed on his armor and helmet. Borin sniffed. It had been a long time since he went to battle.

It felt good.

Looking back at the battlefield, he saw the eerie calmness had returned, the battle apparently now over.

"Everyone alright?"

He received his confirmation from a shotgun blast.

"Yup."

Vora'Gras came into view, putting away his messed up shotgun. "I would have loved a little warning at first, but other than that I am totally fine. That was fun." Taking a look at the final vorcha Borin had killed, he looked back at Borin. "You are a cold blooded killer, you know that?"

"So are you." Borin retorted.

"Nah, what I meant was that you've got training. It's all natural to you. To me, I did it to survive, for the pilgrimage. Quarians are hated after all, so no time to instill cold blooded calculation to us, unless you're a marine, but you?"

"What's your point?"

"Well it's good to have someone like that in your side is all. Good job raptor." Vora'Gras gave him a pat on the back. It sure as hell didn't feel like praise, but whatever, he didn't care to complain anymore. Too many words have been said about his... oddness.

"You think you can drive this thing?" Nora called out to the two of them. She was pointing at the vehicle those vorcha had come from.

"If its got wheels, or a jet engine, or a mass effect core, or whatever, I can drive it!" Vora'Gras responded enthusiastically.

"All right then." Borin responded. "Let's move."

The squad headed back up towards the vehicle by using the ropes used to get down. The vehicle was an old expedition unit used to explore new areas. Outdated wouldn't even begin to describe its age.

"You sure you can get this vehicle running?" Borin asked nervously. He didn't want the thing to spontaneously explode or break down, after all.

"No worries, this thing's got enough juice to get us towards the settlement." Vora'Gras responded giddily.

"Settlement?"

"Yeah. There's one not far from here, about five klicks northwest of our current position."

That was good news.

"Any idea who exactly these vorcha were?"

"No clue. Probably local gangs. They had no idea what hit them." Vora'Gras chuckled a bit. "Poor bastards."

"Yeah. Poor bastards indeed."

"Can we go? I'm getting impatient here." Nora asked rudely. Does she always seek battle or?

"We'll go when we go." Borin responded flatly.

"We're going now, I just got it ready!" Vora'Gras said enthusiastically. The three of them, all seated inside, began to head towards their destination. An uncomfortable thought raced through Borin's mind.

"What if it's a trap?" He said out loud.

"What, it's not like we're going to find the Blood Pack there or anything." Vora'Gras responded with a laugh.

* * *

**A/N: Stay tuned for more! Again, reads and reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4: Blood Pack

The vehicle had very weird items. Borin grabbed a rat... or he thought it was a rat. What was this creature? Whatever it was, it had numerous bite marks, and had no eyes. He tossed it aside, disgusted. Whatever the vorcha did with those things was none of his business.

The constant shaking and vibration was the only thing piercing the silence among the squad. Borin could ask what this rat actually was, but he didn't want to know everything, as Vora'Gras would breathlessly talk about its origins, its mating rituals and how long one must be cooked to be a delicious meal for emergency situations... or something like that. The quarian talked too much, and that would just hurt the poor turian's brain, even more than the aftermath of using his biotics in that battle.

Talking to Nora, however, would be an absolute failure. She was a very determined individual, something Borin noticed when they first got on the shuttle in Illium when this mission was assigned. The asari was a woman of few words, only speaking when she wanted things to move forward, like she had to meet some sort of invisible goal for herself. Borin sighed, people like her bored him to tears. I have to prove myself, they would say. I have to get better or some person that I admire, which usually involves myself, would be disappointed and I would have to slit my wrists because I'm a failure... or something.

Borin shook off that rather dark joke. He couldn't help it after the cabals really. Endless training. Endless times you have to prove to military command that you are capable, that you can be trusted and controlled, that you can be their puppet. The distrust ran deep into turian society when biotics became involved, and it meant everything in the military, where working together was the key to everything. How could you trust a turian who was an unknown? Thinking about those thoughts inevitably lead to the mission which led to his dismissal from the military. Before he could think any further, he heard that familiar, and annoying voice.

"We're here!" Vora'Gras said enthusiastically, stopping the vehicle with a jerk. "Now, okay, before you guys leave, it'll be a surcharge of about five credits for the ride, plus two for the service..."

Borin didn't hear the rest of his... thing as he exited the vehicle after Nora, as they looked on to examine their surroundings. This was a settlement, alright, but where were the residents? The place was deserted, save for multiple buildings that were not far from where they were now. What Borin spotted was a little disturbing. Blood on the walls. Gang symbols. A dead body pinned in some sort of...

"Hey guys, can you please pay up?" Vora'Gras interrupted.

"I think those bodies would." Nora responded darkly.

"Oh. Ohhhhh." Vora'Gras, finally grasping the situation, looked a bit lost for a moment before focusing himself and approached a body. Borin followed him, wondering what Vora'Gras had to say for a change.

"See something?"

Vora'Gras looked over the dead vorcha body. It was pinned to the wall, with thick 12 inch spikes, about three inches thick. Three of them were spiked on the body, and it was apparent that the body had been there for days, the blood chipping away as Borin examined it.

"What the hell are these spikes?"

Vora'Gras gave thought to that question. Grabbing one still on the body, he used his strength to pull it out, as the arm it was pinned to dropped limply. Examining it for a brief moment, Vora'Gras looked up, with an answer.

"It's from a weapon."

"What weapon shoots spikes?" Borin asked absentmindedly.

"Well, things like Graal Spike Throwers. That would be a logical guess, but..." Vora'Gras looked around some more. "This was more of an ambush than an execution. This vorcha never saw this coming. Look at those bodies over there."

Vora pointed to some bodies to his right. Borin hadn't noticed before, but there were even more bodies strewn about. All of them with at least a spike attached to them. He saw Nora examining one of them, whatever good that did to her.

"Those vorcha were most likely fleeing, and were shot down pretty quick."

"So there was more than one with that weapon."

"Not exactly. Look at the bodies, and look where I'm going to point." Vora'Gras pointed at a faraway structure, behind the vehicle. It was a derelict building, but it had enough of a vantage point to be a sniper position.

"Snipers?"

"A sniper. And a particularly good one with that." Vora'Gras mused. "And if I had to guess, it is most likely the shooter used a Kishock."

"Kishock?"

"Kishock Harpoon Gun." Borin could hear a bit of annoyance at his lack of knowledge when it came to sniper weapons. "Batarian made, used by their military, causes a bleeding effect... perfect for capturing or torturing runaway slaves."

This quarian may be an idiot, but he sure was a sharp one.

"So wait, how do you know about the Kishock anyway? I'm doubtful that the quarian fleet would just have a bunch of those guns laying around in their ships."

"Extranet." Vora'Gras beamed. "You can learn everything from the extranet these days."

"Ah." Borin responded. What an honest answer. What a stupid, dumb, but honest answer.

Before Borin could inquire any further, a sound of tires and an engine erupted from the settlement. The squad immediately took out their guns and took cover at the front of the settlement.

"What the hell?"

As Borin looked over, he saw something that made his heart drop. A vehicle was heading towards their location. Following them were familiar looking sets of armor that he dreaded he would see the moment he set foot on this planet.

"Blood Pack."

Vora'Gras looked at Borin with a serious expression. "You're not joking."

Borin remembered Vora'Gras's half joke earlier in the ride. He felt kinda bad for the quarian now.

"Stay focused, we don't know yet what we are up against." Borin said reassuringly.

"Let me guess, hmm, a bunch of vorcha, krogan, varren..." Vora'Gras began to list the names before Borin jabbed him with his rifle.

"What was that for? I was done!" Vora'Gras complained loudly.

"Just. Shut. Up," Borin enunciated the words to get his point across. Before he knew it he heard a voice from the vehicle, which had apparently stopped.

"We know you are there, outsiders. Come out."

Admitting defeat, Borin walked into the view of the vehicle and the surrounding people. they numbered in the twenties and thirties, most of them vorcha, but the ones that immediately stuck out were the krogan, with their red armor sticking out like a sore thumb in this brown landscape. The one that was speaking to them was on top of the vehicle, carrying an intimidating assault rifle. His numerous scars on his plate showed experience, and his eyes gave a piercing glare. As he witnessed the predicament they were in, the turian saw his other two squad members also coming out and viewing the trouble they were in first hand.

This was not good.

"What are you doing here, turian?" The krogan was getting straight to the point. That was one of the things that Borin admired about the krogan race, despite their misgivings. They don't beat around the bush, they demand answers.

"None of your damn business." was his reply. Formality had no place in a situation like this. "And, nothing that concerns your group."

"Anything that happens around here IS my business turian." The krogan retorted. "This area here is the Blood Pack's domain. I am going to ask you one more time. What are you doing here?"

"Like I said, krogan." Borin responded coldly, getting his point across that he wasn't going to be intimidated. "None. Of. Your. Damn. Business."

Not taking no for an answer, the krogan got out his assault rifle and shot right at Borin's feet. "I'm warning you turian, don't pick fights you can't win." The krogan responded with anger in its eyes. "This planet is the Blood Pack's planet, in turn, it's also my planet. I'm not going to give you any more-"

Before the krogan could finish, Nora powered up her biotics and fired some biotic projectiles that knocked some of the Blood Pack's troops off their feet. At that moment Borin opened fired on the unsuspecting members, with Vora'Gras, catching on, firing as well, activating his omni-tool and firing an Incinerate application. The krogan, not amused with the sudden ambush, ordered the vehicle to fire.

"Spirits. Take cover!"

Borin immediately dived to his right as the vehicle fired its cannon, destroying the ride that took them to the settlement. The destroyed vehicle flew towards the air, almost weightless, before gravity kicked in and smashed into the ground, in flames. Borin scurried to cover, his shields thankfully deflecting what bullets that would have killed him, and stopped next to Vora'Gras, who began to absorb the situation they were in.

"Hell of an idea to piss them off Borin!"

* * *

**A/N: Read and review appreciated!**


End file.
